What to film at AAPEX, how to plan booth video around buyer traffic, and how to staff a crew across the Venetian Expo and the AAPEX Forum.
AAPEX is not a consumer show. Nobody walks the Venetian Expo to be entertained. They come to find products, meet suppliers, and open accounts. That should shape every decision about video. The goal of AAPEX video production is simple: give your reps something worth sending to every buyer who stopped at the booth, and to the ones who did not make it.
This guide covers what to film, how to plan it around booth traffic, and how to staff it across two venues. For how we scope the work for exhibitors, see our AAPEX video production page.
Start with the decisions your buyers are making, then work backward to the shots. A distributor deciding whether to carry a line wants to see the product working, hear why it sells, and trust the company behind it. That gives you four core asset types.
The most useful AAPEX clip is usually under a minute and answers one question. How does it install? What problem does it solve? Why does this shop carry it? A rep can drop that into an email the next morning. A three-minute highlight reel with music rarely gets watched by a buyer.
Shoot horizontal masters with enough room to cut vertical versions. Most follow-up gets opened on a phone, and the same clip should work on LinkedIn, in an email, and on a product page.
Your booth has busy windows and quiet windows. Product detail and clean demo passes belong in the quiet ones, ideally before the doors open. Interviews and live conversations belong in the busy ones, when real buyers are present. A crew that blocks your aisle during peak traffic is costing you leads.
AAPEX spans the Venetian Expo and the AAPEX Forum. If your plan includes sessions, partner meetings, or a second presence in the Forum, build the walk between buildings into the schedule. A one-person crew can cover a single booth well. If you need interviews and demos happening at the same time, or coverage in both locations, plan two operators.
Wireless audio matters more than camera choice on a trade floor. The hall is loud, and an interview with bad audio is unusable. Ask any crew how they handle audio before you ask about cameras.
Treat access as something to confirm, not assume. Confirm with show management how a hired crew is credentialed, get badges sorted in advance, and keep the camera inside your own booth unless you have permission from a neighboring exhibitor. Reconfirm the current rules in the official exhibitor materials every year.
The best interviews are planned. List the distributors, retail partners, and customers you expect to see, agree on three or four questions for each, and schedule times where you can. Leave room for the unplanned conversation, but do not rely on it.
A first deliverable during show week lets you post while buyers are still in Las Vegas. Depending on the package, Cross X Agency returns the first deliverable within 24 to 72 hours, and the full library follows after the show in a Google Drive you own. Name files so a rep can find the demo clip without asking anyone.
AAPEX overlaps with the SEMA Show. Many aftermarket brands have a presence at both, or walk SEMA for meetings. One crew plan can cover both if it is built that way from the start. See the AAPEX and SEMA same-week playbook for the scheduling approach, and the AAPEX budget breakdown for where video fits in the overall spend.
External resources are linked for reference. Cross X Agency does not control external content or search ranking outcomes.
Heading to a show? See our convention video and photo coverage.
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